Etymology

"Timor" derives from timur, the word for "east" in
Malay, which became recorded as Timor in
Portuguese, thus resulting in the
tautological toponym meaning "East East": In Portuguese Timor-Leste (Leste being the word for "east"); in
TetumTimór Lorosa'e (Lorosa'e being the word for "east" (literally "rising sun")). In
Indonesian, the country is called Timor Timur, thus using the Portuguese name for the island followed by the word for "east", as adjectives in Indonesian are put after the noun.

The official names under the Constitution are Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste[17] in English, República Democrática de Timor-Leste[12] in Portuguese and Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste[13] in Tetum.